She said this has exposed internet users to all forms of cybercrimes.
She stressed that such threats have serious implications for the country’s international reputation.
“The move towards a digital society has created new attack vectors for criminals to both conceal their identity and target new victims. It is worth noting that Ghana, through these cybercrimes, gained global recognition as a major cybercrime hub thereby contributing to the global cybercrime vocabulary with the word ‘sakawa’ – which refers to cybercrimes committed by Ghanaian perpetrators,” she said.
“At a point in time, major international e-commerce operators and online merchants including Amazon, Paypal and other online retail outlets blacklisted Ghana where residents were unable to purchase goods and services online with their credit cards because of cyber fraud.”
The EOCO boss was speaking at a public lecture on cyber security at the Kumasi Technical University dubbed “building a sustainable cyber-crime-free society for economic development”. It was organized by the university’s Institute of Research, Innovation and Development (IRID) as part of its celebration.
She called for more collaboration between the private sector and international cooperations, and continuous government investment in fighting the menace.
She said “Ghana must step up its coordination and engagement with the private sector, foreign partners such as the US Department of State and Justice, US Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI), the British MI6, etc. to build capacities, exchange information which Motiwala (2017) argues, will bolster Ghana’s cyber security capabilities.
“Deliberate resourcing of crimefighting bodies such as the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) and Cyber Crime Unit of the Ghana Police Service, The Economic and Organised Crime Office and the National Intelligence Bureau (NIB) must be done to win the war on cyber-criminal activities in the country.”
Addo-Danquah urged the public to be vigilant and take measures to protect themselves from cyber threats. She advised individuals to regularly change their passwords, avoid clicking on suspicious links and refrain from sharing sensitive personal information online. She urged the public to report suspicious characters to state security agencies for immediate action.
The director of IRID, Smart Sarpong, said the forum was aimed at facilitating a broader discussion of issues of cyber-crime and its effect on development because it is one of the ways by which businesses lose revenue but fail to report out of shyness.
He said, as part of the university’s measures to curb the menace, it has introduced a new programme of study in Artificial Intelligence to help simulate solutions for cyber-crime before they occur. He urged other educational institutions to cooperate with authorities to help reduce the menace.